The Ultimate Worst Generation

by stringdog

The Straw Hats have arrived on their final stop before descending to Fish-man Island and onto the New World, the Sabaody Archipelago. However, they're not the only big name rookies present, they are just one of 14 rookie crews present and the other 13 all have big names as well. Mass deep crossover with Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Black Clover, Akame ga Kill, and RWBY.

6. Chapter 6: Chaos on Sabaody

Here is the sixth chapter in this story released in accordance with my upload schedule for this story. As with the previous chapters this is early due to how it was broken up into two chapters meaning that the next one was basically already done when I made that decision so I could release it early but this should be the last time during the Sabaody Arc as Chapter 7 was not broken up though I expect it out sometime in mid December if all goes well as I do have other stories to work on which will be update before the next chapter in this story. Anyway, the stuff around the auction house is finally done so it's time to see how Luffy's actions affected the rest of the archipelago and we all know who that means so let's see how some of the other new crews are handling the fallout of Luffy's punch. That is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions that need answers but there is a guest review that needs a response and a question to posed to y'all that was asked in another review so I will do that now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.

To KGBeastboy (guest), glad you enjoyed the last chapter and thank you for your review and suggestions. In terms of Lubbock, that's not a bad idea though more on the front that my initial idea for him is going to be similar to another characters only with wires instead of what that character uses so it could get confusing. I will confirm that as of right now at least 4 of the 5 crews have someone who can swim on them at the moment and at least 3 with either continue to have that person/persons or will recruit a new member who can swim and won't eat a Devil Fruit. So far only one of the crossover characters introduced in the crews has been confirmed to have not eaten a Devil Fruit in Najenda but the others will be revealed in time though some will eat Devil Fruits during the time skip arcs at least. The idea with Lubbock does work better than others so I will keep that in mind when he makes his on page debut. Now onto the Devil Fruits you've suggested. With Julius, the appearance of it works really well for his Devil Fruit though I have a different name and purpose for it. I had initially planned on him being one of the few to consume a canon Devil Fruit that has reentered circulation (any that have are fair game though that is limited) in the Time-Time Fruit but its powers don't work with Julius so I've gone in a different direction but the appearance works well. As for Clover, unfortunately that won't work. As cool as that is, when it comes to Devil Fruits in this series, with the exception of the Akame ga Kill characters, any new Devil Fruit will be based off the power that that person has so for RWBY it is their semblances, Quirks for MHA, signature magic for Fairy Tail, and natural birth magical attribute for Black Clover (the only hybrid who was naturally born with 2 attributes is Charmy so for her it's the one that she uses normally). Akame ga Kill is different due to its power system and Devil Fruits there can be the Imperial Arms or some style of it itself (Bulat and Akame), the effects of their Imperial Arms (Leone with some additions to fit a Zoan type), or the Danger Beast (Tatsumi) from which their Imperial Arms are made. That means that for Clover his Good Luck Semblance will be the basis for his Devil Fruit if he has one but as shown in the last chapter with Winter there will be characters with a Semblance who don't have a Devil Fruit though with her it's obvious. There will be exceptions, Blake is a good example of one, but in those cases they will still be fitting such as Blake having a Zoan type Devil Fruit, and only applicable when either their power is too similar to others out there or too hard to adapt so either it's a fitting Devil Fruit or they won't have any. The latter rule is going to be more common when it comes to Fairy Tail and Black Clover characters with common magics like fire. Lastly, All for One. That is pretty much what I was going for with him though the name is going to be different. I am still working out what he's up to but the idea of him in Impel Down is better than what I had and works really well though I may have him in a super special Level 7 because he is so dangerous that not even Level 6 is enough for him. Thank you for the suggestions and do keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying my work and onto my question to y'all from a review suggestion.

Do y'all want a supplemental/companion fic to this that is in effect a data book/vivre card data style piece? It was suggested and I like the idea so am willing to do it as a reference guide of sorts. If so, what data do you want? Bear in mind that I will not reveal spoilers in it so it will be limited in some aspects but for the moment I'm looking at the following categories: Name, Age, Crew/Affiliation, Position, Epithet, Devil Fruit, Bounty, Home Island, and maybe a vague history. I don't want to reveal too much as there are some aspects of characters backstories that will play important roles in this story or be revealed in other places/ways or get more details in an eventual set of prequel stories telling of how all 5 crews were formed and reached Sabaody but some general overview could be useful. The way I'd do it is also one card per chapter (so if approved the first 6 will come out right away) with the card being relevant to a character in that chapter, if applicable, and rotating between the 5 crews as best as possible though this will of course be different during the time skip arcs and will include other new characters like Winter, Ironwood, Esdeath, Torchwick, etc. as they appear as well. If this is something that you'd like let me know in reviews and PMs, it's not hard at all, and if there are other category suggestions feel free to suggest them.

Anyway, that is enough for this long pre-chapter note so sit back and enjoy the sixth chapter in The Ultimate Worst Generation.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these great franchises.

Chapter 6: Chaos on Sabaody

"Captain, there's a situation."

Yami was sitting at a table in the tavern that the Black Bulls had rooms at enjoying a game of cards with another member of their crew, a street punk looking kid called Magna, and a couple of others who were a mix of locals, people who'd ended up staying on Sabaody for various reasons, and low tier pirates eager for a chance to see the Destruction God with a 350 million berry bounty up close. The rest of the Black Bull Pirates were either in the bar, on the ship, or in the case of Asta, Noelle, and Nero still out as they'd not returned to the tavern yet after their excursion earlier.

As such when Nacht suddenly rose from the shadows behind Yami he was annoyed. Well that and he was about to win the hand and there was a good amount in the pot at the moment. Still, while Yami was annoyed he wasn't fazed by Nacht's arrival, though the people at the table jumped in surprise, as it was normal for his Vice-Captain to just appear out of the shadows unexpectedly and Yami's own skills ensured that Nacht couldn't surprise him when he did so. No, Yami was just annoyed that his game was interrupted.

"What's the situation?" Yami asked not looking back at Nacht as he laid down his cards to show his hand and then took a drag from his ever present cigarette. "You were at that auction thing so I presume that something happened there."

"It did." Nacht said his tone neutral, his sudden presence was all he needed to convey that this was a serious situation. "Straw Hat Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon."

That did get Yami's attention and he stiffened, as did the others at the table who quickly threw down their hands, grabbed their money as they'd lost the hand to Yami, and left leaving Yami, Magna, and Nacht. Yami still didn't look at the man but he now had Yami's undivided attention.

"He did, did he?" Yami asked as he took another drag before exhaling some smoke. "I'd heard that he was a crazy bastard but why would he do that?"

"It would seem that the Celestial Dragon bought his friend, a mermaid, and he wasn't happy about it and tried to stop it but in the chaos another friend of his, a fish-man, was shot and then mocked by the Celestial Dragon so Straw Hat punched him in the face." Nacht explained. "Once the dust settled chaos ensued but I left during it and slipped past a marine cordon that had appeared. No doubt an Admiral is on his or her way, perhaps 2 given the number of notable crews here as this is a great excuse to try and arrest all of us."

"Let's hope it's not the her then." Yami said thinking about Admiral Shirokami. "I've heard the stories of her, she's a true monster who's worse than any pirate out there when it comes to slaughter. Still, this is a good chance for us to see an Admiral in action so I may as well take that."

"Captain Yami that's so manly!" Magna said grinning his eyes flashing behind his shades as he looked over to his Captain. "Though, er, are we ready to face an Admiral?"

"Most of you aren't, that's not up for debate." Yami said seriously. "We need to train hard once we get to the New World. We have 2 years to prepare and trust me we will use that time to its fullest so that you're all at the level of a pirate worth half a billion berries or a Navy Vice-Admiral."

"Why 2 years?" Magna asked as the whole tavern was cleared out leaving only the Black Bulls present. "I get the training, I'm ready for it, but what's happening in 2 years' time?"

"You'll see." Yami said, he wasn't going to divulge that until it was nearer the time, before he looked around and noted that they had the room which was good. "Now who's not here?"

The room was pretty much barren now that the news of Straw Hat Luffy's actions had reached them and the normal civilians and lower tier pirates had already fled to safety but as Yami hadn't given an order so his crew was still around. Two were at the bar, a well endowed pink haired woman in a revealing magenta outfit and witch's hat and a brown haired man in green and brown with dyed green tips at the end of his hair. That was to be expected, Vanessa had been getting drunk while Finral, who Yami always tried to keep nearby with his Gate-Gate Fruit powers, had been hitting on women with a 0% success rate.

Three more were at a table in one of the corners that was laden with food. Said food was all for the tiny black haired girl, Charmy, who was getting through it while another punk looking member with bright red hair, no shirt just some weird ¾ sleeve things and a stylish mask over the lower half of his face and a brown haired man in purple and brown sat with her. The redhead was Zora, the trickster of the crew who tended to do his own thing when on islands, often involving putting corrupt officials in their places, while the brown haired man was Gauche and he was staring at a picture of his sister with a nosebleed.

Yami was surprised that Zora was there as he expected the man to be out setting traps or messing with various people but the other two were to be expected. That just left 7 members of the crew unaccounted for so he turned to Nacht to get the details on them.

"Where are the others?" Yami asked as the sound of panic began to be heard from outside but he just ignored it as he got a report from his Vice-Captain. "We can escape in a moment's notice but we need to know where they are."

"Asta's with Noelle and Nero, they got distracted while out and are still a few Groves away from here." Nacht said simply, he made sure to always know where the crew was even if he only really liked Asta at the moment. "The rest is on the ship. Henry has to be, he's preparing it for the trip to the New World and overseeing the coating so that it works with his Devil Fruit. Grey is too shy to leave it though she did spend some time using her Change-Change Fruit powers to get intel so I said she could recover after that. Gordon decided to keep her and Henry company. Lastly you sent Luck back because he kept getting into brawls and drawing attention to us."

"Right I recall that, this is a great place for that but Luck's personality is extreme even for Sabaody." Yami said recalling how in the span of 24 hours Luck had gotten into 14 brawls and won all of them despite not having a Devil Fruit at the moment so had to be sent back to the ship to both recover and prevent him from getting into more brawls before raising his voice so that everyone could hear. "Crew, here's the plan. Finral, create a gate back to the ship so that Vanessa, Charmy, Magna, Zora and Gauche can return and I want all of you to aid the others there in preparing the ship for sail."

"Yes Captain." Finral said as he held out his hand and a gray portal appeared a few inches in front of him. "Get through you four."

"Can I bring my food?" Charmy said as she ate.

"And the booze." Vanessa said with hiccup. "They've got some good stuff here."

"Sure, we've paid for a few nights so we'll get our money's worth if we're not going to be staying her." Yami said. "But move fast, I want most of the crew on the ship right away."

"Yes Captain Yami, sir." Magna said leaping up and collecting the money on the table before being the first through the portal without a second's hesitation.

"Yay." Charmy said as she hopped back and off her chair and her arms turned to cotton that she then used to grab the table and trotted with it through the portal making sure not to spill any food from it. "I'll make sure the kitchen is fired up for the trip."

"Our Captain may be crazy and you lot are a bunch of eccentric weirdos but damn does he recruit power." Zora said with a chuckle as he followed Charmy while Gauche walked behind him. "Just one Logia user on a crew is big, we've got more than that. No wonder we're so wanted."

"Oh Marie, one day your big brother will return for you." Gauche said his nose still bleeding. "And then…"

Thankfully Gauche was cut off by walking through the portal. As he did, Vanessa staggered off the bar stool that she was on and a series of red threads shot from her body and wrapped around all the bottles and lifted them off the shelves to hold them in the air without an issue. Once she had them she too walked, with a slight sway, through the portal without another word as she had to focus on her bottles.

"Alright close it up and stay here Finral." Yami said as Finral kept the gate open causing him to turn and blink at Yami in confusion as he'd planned to go through as well so that he could return to the safety of the ship. "What? We still have members out in the Groves so you need to be here for them. If it gets hot you can leave but otherwise don't until we are all on the ship."

"Surely you can just call me when they're here Captain." Finral said though he closed the gate as ordered. "That would be better and keep me safe."

"Yes but I'm going to go and find this Admiral or Admirals." Yami said as he grinned. "Great chance to test their combat strength and maybe surpass my limits if there's time so I'm not going out to find Asta, Noelle, and Nero. Don't worry about me though, I'll be fine."

"Er…" Finral began. "I know you're a Logia type Captain but can you take an Admiral?"

"Won't know if I can or not until I test myself against one in person." Yami said as he rose and looked to Nacht. "Go and get Asta and bring him to me as fast as possible as I may need his power to back me up, especially if it's not Guresai. Personally, though, I'm hoping that Shirokami doesn't show, she actually scares me. Besides, I know who I want to face."

"Yes Captain." Nacht said. "And I'll tell the girls with him to get back as well."

"Naturally though those two are sensible and resourceful so they should be fine." Yami said as he walked to the door of tavern just as an explosion rocked the area and grinned. "Well it looks like we're closer than expected. That works great for me."

With that Yami left the tavern leaving Finral and Nacht in it though Nacht soon melted into the shadows and left as well leaving Finral alone. All he could do was take a seat and nervously wait in the tavern hoping that the others were ok.

For his part Yami trusted that the others would be able to manage it as he calmly walked out and saw that for the most part the area was clear though the burning stump of one of the massive mangrove trees that had been destroyed, which given its size was impressive, would do that. All that did for Yami though was grin as he drew his katana and rested it on his right shoulder and sensed the ki of the area to try and find where the fighting was.

One of the advantages of the advanced form of Observation Haki that, as far as Yami knew, was limited to the area of Wano that he'd once called home, was that it could pinpoint individuals by noting the differences in everyone's life energy. It also let Yami know their current emotional states which had several advantages, in this case allowing him to determine who was in combat and who was fleeing from it.

As such it was easy to parse through the fleeing pirates and civilians to where there was a source nearby that showed two men confronting each other who weren't fearful at all. That had to be where the fun was as one has a strong sense of justice in his ki while the other had a clear indifference to it. As Yami headed over there it was confirmed by a pair of explosions as the former attacked the latter, twice.

Thankfully that location wasn't too far and Yami casually strolled towards it so that he could enter the square place that the fighting was taking place in facing a very tall man in a Navy coat over a gaudy looking yellow suit standing before a fountain tuned to the side to look at an unharmed man in white with long, blond, hair and strange tattoos instead of eyebrows sitting in the destroyed building front. A bunch of hooded men and a bald man but for three braids at the back of his skull in a red shirt were off to the side cowering behind crates and looking worried.

Yami didn't care about them, though he did recognize the blond man as The Magician, Basil Hawkins, a man with a bounty 101 million berries lower than Yami's making him one of the Super Rookies on the archipelago. No, Yami's focus was on the Admiral and he had to repress a grin as he schooled his expression and walked towards him because this was the very Admiral that he want to test himself against given the nature of Admiral Kizaru's Devil Fruit.

"Looks like I made a wrong turning somewhere." Yami said getting Kizaru's attention just as a large man with wings on his back and wearing some kind of robe get up landed on the ground between Kizaru and Hawkins though Yami paid that no heed as it wasn't important to him right now. "Do you know where the nearest bar is?"

"Is that the Mad Monk Urouge?" One of Hawkins's crewmembers asked gesturing to the man that had just landed on the ground. "And…oh shit, that's Destruction God Sukehiro, he's got the highest bounty on the archipelago. It's almost as much as the bounties of the Captain and the Mad Monk combined."

"Plus Urouge isn't alone." Another crewmember said as a massive man in a black jacket and white pants with some kind of paw print on them landed by Urouge revealing that the Warlord Bartholomew Kuma was there, though none of them realized that it wasn't the real Kuma. "An Admiral and a Warlord!"

"Well what do we have here." Kizaru said ignoring the chatter as he turned to face Yami while Hawkins showed Urouge that the situation was a lot more dire than he'd first realized. "The Destruction God Yami Sukehiro, a man worth 350 million berries. Now you're a real scary individual."

"Should I be honored that you know me?" Yami asked as he approached ignoring the clearly not fully human Warlord that had shown up and taking a casual drag on his cigarette. "Then again I know you too, Admiral Kizaru, so I shouldn't be surprised."

"Well then you know that this is over now." Kizaru said as he raised his hand and a light formed on the end of his finger. "Taking you in will be a big boon, even Straw Hat Luffy's bounty isn't as high as yours. There's a special place in Impel Down for people like you."

With that Kizaru fired off a beam of light from his finger and at Yami. The beam shot right at and through the upper left part of Yami's chest just above his heart and carried on until it hit the base of the tree several hundred yards behind Yami where it exploded leaving a smoking crater in the trunk of it. Everyone looked at the attack that had just taken down the most wanted pirate on the archipelago and their eyes went wide as they realized that it hadn't worked. Well everyone but Hawkins who noted that he'd not seen the shadow of death on Yami though even he was surprised that Yami was still standing.

"Was that supposed to down me?" Yami asked as small whisps of blackness rose from the hole in his chest before the darkness closed up and returned it to normal, even his tank top was undamaged. "I'll give it to you, if I'd been anyone else that would have badly wounded but not killed me ensuring that I was captured with time to treat it before I was hauled off to Impel Down but see, like you, I ate a Logia type Devil Fruit."

At that darkness extended over Yami's katana and he slashed it down from his shoulder sending a diagonal slash of darkness just as another figure in blue appeared and kicked the Warlord into a building in the periphery of Yami's vision. Yami didn't care about that, they could fight for all he cared as his focus was Kizaru and seeing how his void interacted with Kizaru's glint.

Alas it would seem that Kizaru was not in the mood to challenge it as he turned to light and beamed himself up and away though he did personally note that former Rear-Admiral Drake had arrived as well bringing the total number of Super Rookies up to 4. He'd deal with him in a moment, first he needed to assess Yami and decide how best to handle a fellow Logia type as he reformed in the air facing Yami though he was off to the side.

"There you are, you're fast but I knew where you were going." Yami said as he slashed to the side before Kizaru fully reformed thanks to reading the man's ki. "I'm you opponent, the others can have their own spat with that machine. If they're sensible they'd know that they can't challenge you."

"My, that's some Observation Haki but…" Kizaru began before the slash of blackness hit him in the gut and rather than passing through it made contact with his body, winding him and blasting him back and into a building just as Urouge activated his own Devil Fruit and grew to a size as tall as the Warlord, or machine as Yami had accurately pointed out, ready for round two with him.

There wasn't much of an impact with the wall, Kizaru's body was incredibly light due to his Glint-Glint Fruit, but he was still surprised as he dropped to the ground and landing in a crouch his hand going to his gut where his suit was cut though the attack had been blunted. Still, there was a bruise there that surprised him.

"My, you're something else." Kizaru said as he looked at Yami while still on one knee. "That bounty is well earned. Now, how did you hit me? You're certainly scary, Destruction God."

"The void will always swallow light." Yami said as his sword turned black though not with darkness but with Armament Haki as he infused it into his katana, and then he coated it in his Devil Fruit's power. "I wasn't entirely sure it would so I used a blunt attack but it would appear that I have the superior Logia type right now so it's time to sharpen things and make things more interesting."

With that Yami leapt towards Kizaru his lower half turning to a roiling mass of darkness as he shot over the square and brought down his katana on Kizaru but the Admiral had already stepped up his game and created a sword of light that intercept the blow without getting up, wind blowing around them as Urouge punched the Warlord. Neither paid attention to that as Kizaru pushed Yami back and then shot at him with the speed of a seasoned warrior who knew how to use his Devil Fruit.

Yami just grinned as he engaged in a duel with the Admiral predicting his attack as light and dark clanged in the square. The Admiral was skilled, if a bit over reliant on his Devil Fruit power, but all Yami needed was to keep this up because his ace was coming in and then they're really see what Kizaru was made of because few could handle what Asta brought to a battle.

---

Asta, Noelle, and Nero were just idly chatting as they headed back to the tavern that was the crew's base of operations while they were on the archipelago. With coating taking a few days they had the time to enjoy the place and other than Henry who had to remain on the ship, and got drained if he was away from it for too long due to his odd Devil Fruit, they'd all enjoyed the island immensely.

Overall, Asta had really liked Sabaody Park, which the girls had gone to more because they were often with Asta so didn't have much of a choice there, while Noelle had enjoyed the shopping and Nero did like finding interesting items to tinker with so it had been a good time. They'd even had some fun fights, well Asta would call them fun as Noelle saw them as pointless and a risk to Asta, not that she'd say that aloud, while Nero was indifferent to them.

Despite that they'd somehow not seen any marines, but their time on the island was coming to an end. That was because the ship should be coated by now which meant that it was going to be time to head first to Fish-man Island and then onto the New World and all that it entailed.

The whole crew were excited for it and couldn't wait to see what it would bring them as only Yami had been there before, they just had to get there first. So far that was seeming to be pretty easy but as the trio were in one of the unpopulated areas of the lawless Groves and heading back to Grove 27 there they heard an explosion from the direction of it though with the buildings and trees they couldn't see it other than a glow in the distance which did at least show that it had been a massive explosion.

"What was that?" Asta asked.

"Probably some fight." Noelle said. "Knowing Captain Yami he's going to either be in it or about to be."

"That's highly likely." Nero said. "Especially because it came from the direction we're going in."

"Oh, that's not good." Noelle said her eyes going wide. "I'd rather not have to deal with that."

"It could be fun." Asta said with a grin. "A little bit of training before we go."

"I'd rather not." Noelle said as they continued to move. "It could be something that we can't handle."

"That it is."

The voice came from behind them and made all three jump and turn around to see their Vice-Captain rising from a long shadow cast by one of the mangrove trees. Even though Asta could read ki, the advanced form of Observation Haki that Yami had taught him, and the girls both possessed some level of understanding of normal Observation Haki as Yami was trying to teach the whole crew ki, Nacht's power rendered him unobservable to it if he was fully merged with a shadow so when he appeared he startled them. Even after dealing with it since joining the crew, none of them were used to it.

"Vice-Captain!" Noelle exclaimed a little louder than normal due to her surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"To inform you of the current situation and get Asta because Yami will likely need him and his power." Nacht said simply. "So be quiet and listen as I don't have much time. That explosion a few moments ago was Admiral Kizaru using his power and it destroyed a big tree, I swung by before looking for you to confirm who it was. Yami is going to engage him and likely knows by now that it's Kizaru who's here. Given that Kizaru has a Logia Devil Fruit we need Asta's power in the battle. Right now only me and the Captain can use Armament Haki and besides, Asta's power is better than that."

"That makes sense." Asta said.

"That does but what doesn't is why there is an Admiral here." Noelle said. "What's he doing on Sabaody? They barely appear unless absolutely needed."

"Straw Hat Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon in a slave auction in Grove 1." Nacht said as if it was nothing though it did fully explain why an Admiral was now on Sabaody. "There was chaos after it though I only stayed for a little bit and at least one Admiral, likely two, have been dispatched. I know for certain of Kizaru but not who the other might be."

"Of the other four the least dangerous would be Guresai." Nero noted. "But that's semantics when it comes to Admirals. I'd say that Akainu isn't likely due to his destructive power but the other three are all possible."

"Wait, someone punched a Celestial Dragon?" Noelle asked her eyes wide as she processed it though neither Asta nor Nero seemed phased by it. "Are they mad?"

"Probably, Straw Hat is about as crazy as our own Captain if not crazier given the fact that he invaded Ennis Lobby." Nacht said. "But now's not the time to deal with that. I need to get Asta to the battle right away as I can travel faster than a person can run when I'm using my Shade-Shade powers. Can I trust you girls to get back to the tavern on your own?"

"Of course." Nero said as Noelle still processed the situation. "I presume that Finral is still there waiting for us."

"He is so get to him and get back." Nacht said. "The others should be on the ship so once we're all on it we'll set sail for the New World. Fight through anything you face because the marines are here and with Kizaru nearby there should be several in the area."

"Understood." Nero said with a nod.

"Good now Asta, turn off your power and come with me." Nacht said as he began to sink into the shadows which seemed to expand around him. "I need full access to my Devil Fruit to get you there as fast as possible."

"Right, turning it off." Asta said understanding what Nacht meant as the man vanished into the shadows and then moved to Asta's before it rose up his legs to his waist while avoiding the swords on Asta's back now that Asta's own power wasn't active. "Make this quick, it's not easy to suppress this when I'm conscious."

There was no word, when Nacht was fully merged he couldn't speak, but there was a sense of exasperation at Asta's statement before the shadow suddenly moved and Asta shot off causing him to yelp in surprise and his upper body leaning back from the acceleration. The speed was impressive and moments later Asta was gone leaving the girls together.

"Come on, we're still a few Groves out and we're going to have to go through at least one settlement to get back to the tavern." Nero said her tone serious though Noelle was already focused again thanks to worry about Asta facing an Admiral. "We need to be quick. Have faith in Asta and the Captain and be ready to act if we run into any marines."

"I do, I just want him to come back alive." Noelle said as she and Nero began to run. "I'm worried that's all."

"I know, so am I." Nero admitted which was rare for her as she usually had faith in Asta but an Admiral was different though for Nero her worry stemmed from her unshakable loyalty towards Asta rather than a deep romantic feeling that she was in total denial of like Noelle. "So let's hurry so that we can be on the ship to welcome him back when he and the Captain are done testing an Admiral."

Noelle nodded at that as they hurried off and ran as fast as they could towards the tavern. It was time to get off the archipelago, they just hoped that Asta would be ok and they wouldn't run into any trouble on the way.

---

"There you two are! We need to get out of here right away!"

Natsu and Erza blinked as they entered the tavern that they'd bought out in Grove 23 to see a busty blonde girl their own age in a sleeveless blue and white top, blue mini skirt and knee high black boots with a whip in a brown belt at her hip leap up from a chair and head right over to them as she exclaimed that they had to go. With her was a shirtless black haired man in black pants, a blue haired woman in a full blue dress with fur cuffs, a fur lined shall, and a split up the outside of her left leg to her hip for functionality, and a short, clearly young, girl with darker blue hair in a simple blue and green dress.

As members of the Fairy Tail Pirates they all had the crew's jolly roger tattooed on their bodies with the blonde's on the back of her right hand, the shirtless man on his right peck, the older blue haired girl on her left thigh and the younger one on her right shoulder. They were also the only members of the crew present but as they were part of Natsu's unofficial officer core it made sense. However, what didn't was that none of the rest of the crew was around as there should have been more, they were a 16 person crew after all and at least 12 were allowed shore leave at a time.

The blonde who'd spoken was Lucy, their navigator and the closest to Natsu other than his first mate, as well as likely who he had feelings for while she almost certainly had feelings for him in return but neither seemed willing to admit it, though she was not one of the original 5 crew members who formed the Fairy Tail Pirates. The only other one present with an official title on the crew was Wendy, the small, young, girl who was the ship's doctor, though that was in part due to what her Devil Fruit could do as part of its powerset.

Wendy was also the youngest member at 12 but as she had nowhere to go when they found her, and she aided them in a small situation while showing off her Devil Fruit which really struck a chord with Natsu due to its similarity to his, he recruited her with Erza's help. She may not be much of a fighter, yet, but she'd more than proved her worth on the crew.

The shirtless man was Gray, he was an original member of the crew and while he didn't have an official title, few did in the crew unless they performed a specific and necessary task that no one else could reliably perform, he was unofficially known as the stripper of the crew. Likewise the older blue haired woman, Juvia, didn't have an official title but her clear and blunt love for Gray and habit of stalking him led to her being called the stalker of the crew though as Gray had never really put an end to her actions many believed that he reciprocated Juvia's feelings but didn't know how to show or voice them.

"What's going on?" Erza asked as leaving the door open even though she and Natsu were fully in the tavern. "Where are the others? There should be a few more here, there were when I went out to do some shopping and get tea at a place that one of the stores recommended to me."

"Yeah I know I gave leave for at least 12 at a time and Carla came up with some shifts for it but I expected more here." Natsu said looking around as the quartet came up to them. "At least a few more as there are bound to be others out enjoying the archipelago. I know that I was, especially after a little sparring match with the Destruction God himself."

"Yeah about that." Gray said while Lucy blinked at what Natsu had said because if that was who she was sure he meant then there was likely a destroyed Grove nearby seeing as the Black Bull Pirates were the only rookie crew considered to be as destructive as they were. "There was an incident a few moments ago in Grove 1 that dwarfs whatever little incident you caused while out. Straw Hat Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon in the face."

"Aw man he did? So cool." Natsu said with a grin. "I wish I had been there to see it. I may have…"

"Moron, that's not a smart thing to do." Erza said as she slapped the back of his head with her free hand, she'd still not stored the sword that had blocked Asta's a few moments ago though she was sure that she could. "They may be evil assholes but they're the World Nobles, strike one and an Admiral will come."

"It's likely two." Wendy said as Natsu growled and rubbed the back of his head though given his thick skull, which was in part due to his Devil Fruit, he didn't really feel the blow even with Erza wearing armored gloves and gauntlets at the moment. "There are a lot of wanted pirates on the archipelago right now, three of whom have bounties that are 300 million berries or more, so two would make sense."

"Then that's bad." Natsu said recovering quickly, he may enjoy a good fight but even he knew his limits and right now he wasn't sure if he could take on an Admiral, well most of them as his own Devil Fruit had a certain aspect to it that likely make Akainu's power useless again so that was something Natsu was eager to test out if he could. "So did the others go back then?"

"Laki, Carla, Lisanna, and Mira were already on the ship when we got the news." Lucy said. "It was Carla who relayed the news to us in fact as she got word of it from several pirates nearby who were quickly setting sail and talking about it. She said to get back now and as the quartermaster she can give that order if there's an emergency, which this is. She tasked Happy with finding Gajeel, Levy, and Lily as they're at the amusement park today while Elfman and Evergreen headed back right away but as we knew you two would be back before Happy could find you so we waited here for you. He'll head back with those three once they are found as it's faster that way."

"That's fine, it's within Carla's right to make that call." Natsu said noting that as the crew's quartermaster the white furred cat mink on the crew, who'd been voted into the position as there was a need for someone with a rational and level head to manage the day to day operations of the ship, ranked below only Natsu and Happy in the hierarchy and while in port could call everyone even those two back to the ship in an emergency. "We should go then. As much as I enjoy a good scrap with the Navy, an Admiral may be too much right now."

"Agreed." Erza said with a nod. "No point in fighting with an Admiral here. We're right in the shadow of Navy HQ as well, we can't get into a fight right now. Best save it for the New World after we've gained more experience there."

Everyone nodded at that. While they were known for fighting and destruction, they did have some sense, well the crew did if Natsu didn't at times though even an Admiral could quell Natsu's fire at the moment, so they understood that right now they should head to the ship and get clear. Thankfully they had a few quick ways to get back to it.

"Alright let's go." Natsu said as he turned and head out of the still open door into the deserted street. "We should…"

Before he could finish there was a sharp downdraft of wind and a roar from above that rattled building, broke glass, and forced the 6 of them to brace as it hit them. It was so strong in fact that Wendy was flattened by it and Juvia's body wobbled but she held herself together.

That got their attention and they looked up to see a massive dragon, at least it looked like a dragon flying above them. It was gray and plated with dark pink skin or muscle visible between sections and they just caught a sight of what looked like red nipples with a black cross in the center of them. It was clearly a Devil Fruit user and one they didn't know but as it flew of, the force of its wingbeats shaking trees with what had to be someone riding in its back, they all stared at it.

"What was that?" Lucy asked her eyes wide. "It's as large, if not larger, than Natsu's beast form."

"I don't know but it's clearly a Mythical Zoan, there's nothing else that it could be." Erza said. "I didn't think there were any others on the archipelago but the ones in our crew."

"It's rather scary." Juvia noted sliding over to stand next to Gray the implication clear. "There was a sinister vibe coming from it. The color was similar to Gajeel's but I know that's not him."

"Yeah, Natsu's dragon form is intimidating but that was something else." Gray said with a slight gulp. "It's a true monster."

"Yeah I wonder what model it is." Wendy said a shiver running down her spine as she watched it fly away. "I've only heard of a few in the Fish-Fish line and that's not one that I've seen before."

"That's it!" Natsu said not getting the same feeling as the others as he glared at the wake of the dragon thing that had just flown overhead as his body rippled and swelled and the others were suddenly glad that they were currently in the middle of the road. "I will not be out dragoned by anyone!"

Natsu finished his statement with a roar as his skin on the back of his arms, the only skin visible from behind him, turned red and scaly before bulging out as his arms began to swell with reptilian muscle. At the same time the rest of Natsu grew until he was twice as tall as the buildings around him while wings burst from his back and through two special slits in his open tunic that were specially put there for this part of the transformation and unfurled to the sides, the cream membrane clear as the two buildings on either side were destroyed from the ends of his wings hitting them. Similarly a tail shot out through another specially cut slit in his cloths and lashed the ground.

Finally his neck elongated and his head changed into a typical dragon's head with small wing like protrusions from the sides and a horn on the tip of his nose and on either side of his head. His clothes and scarf, which was apparently made from the shed scales of his transformation, remained on as they were specially designed to accommodate his transformation.

With the transformation complete, Natsu belched a stream of fire in the air and flapped his wings creating a powerful draft that blew debris along the street as he took to the sky and flew after the other dragon he'd seen. He wasn't going to let some random, unknown, dragon upstage him before he left for the New World.

Natsu's actions got the attention of the citizens around who turned to see the large, bipedal, dragon with red scales on its' back, the wings, legs and face with a cream underbelly, lower jaw, under tail, and under arms and ran away screaming as Natsu took to the sky. In fairness it was a fair thing to do when Natsu fully transformed. He may not be as large or lean as Kaido was but at least looked like he had more power and then some and he was going to show everyone that he was the best dragon on the archipelago.

"We should have seen that coming the moment an unidentified dragon-type Mythical Zoan showed up." Gray said with a sigh as Natsu flew off. "Now he'll try to one up that other dragon. We need to follow him and rescue his ass when he gets into trouble because there's no way that he doesn't get into trouble."

"It's not exactly easy to follow a dragon though." Juvia pointed out. "He's rather fast when he's in that form."

"Good thing that the Igneel model is more about power than speed." Erza said looking over to Wendy. "Compared to the Grandine model that is."

"Well my association is with the sky itself rather than fire like Natsu's is so it makes sense." Wendy said as her body began to swell as well. "So I'll be able to catch him and help rescue him, again. Stand back please, I'm still not great with my surroundings after a change."

The others did just that as Wendy grew upwards, her body changing like Natsu's had only in her case white fur covered her face and upper chest as her head became somewhat broad and flat. As she did she fell forward onto all fours, her arms and legs turning into white and covered in what looked like feathers as her hands and feet turned into bird-like talons. Lastly a white tail and white wings similar to a bird's shot out from behind Wendy and her back through two holes cut in her dress to accommodate her wings. Unlike Natsu, however, she didn't let out a roar as she turned her head to her friends.

"I can carry at least two of you but not all four if I want to safely reach Natsu quickly and I don't want to leave one of you alone at the moment." Wendy said as the others looked at her, her voice sounding more mature coming from the dragon's mouth though it was still a little off putting. "Who's best?"

"That would be me, Natsu may need my power." Erza said as her body flashed as she activated the power of her Requip-Requip Fruit and mentally reached into the pocket dimension her Devil Fruit created after she ate it and selected the armor she wanted from it. "But I'll use a different set of armor to lighten the load. Requip: Clear Heart Clothing."

"I'll join as well." Gray said as Erza changed into just a pair of red pants with flames coming up the legs and bindings around her breasts, a katana in her hand that was of Great Grade quality. "I might be able to talk sense into him, or at least taunt him to focus on me so that Erza can knock him out if need be."

"Works for me, I know that Lucy and Juvia will be fine on their own." Wendy said as she lowered her neck. "Hop on."

"Stay safe my love." Juvia said as Erza and Gray clambered onto Wendy's neck and slid down to where it met her torso before grabbing her fur as a handhold as riding Wendy or Natsu wasn't an easy task. "I will as well."

"I know you will be, Juvia." Gray said not responding to the whole love thing as his own feelings for Juvia were a bit more mixed and he was still trying to sort them out. "Just get back to the ship right away."

"Will do." Juvia said happy that Gray had faith in her.

"Bring Natsu back." Lucy added. "And save him from himself."

"We will even if we have to restrain him." Erza said. "Go Wendy, we don't know how much time we have."

"Right." Wendy said and she leapt into the air as she beat her wings and caused slightly less wind than Natsu had to get more height before flying off after Natsu as fast as she safely could with two passengers on her back.

"I know I've seen it before but compared to Natsu it's always strange seeing Wendy turn into a dragon." Lucy said as she and Juvia began to run towards where the ship was located wary for an attack as they knew they'd have to travel through several Groves to get to it. "The Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Grandine is a powerful Mythical Zoan but still, seeing it used by Wendy is always odd."

"True but that benefit of healing abilities that are part of what she can do is great, we'll need it." Juvia said. "Because our loves will likely get injured out there."

"I, I don't love Natsu." Lucy said flushing, she was still in the denial phase of her feelings but at least Juvia no longer saw her as a rival for Gray, which was good. "Though I am worried about him with an Admiral out there."

"Keep telling yourself that, at least you're not my rival." Juvia said as they left the inhabited area and began to make their way towards the next Grove. "Now come on, we need to have faith in them and be back at the ship when they return from whatever it is that Natsu has to do."

Lucy nodded and the girls continued to run hoping that they wouldn't find any trouble along the way. Alas, thanks to Straw Hat, trouble was already all over Sabaody and like many it was about to find them.

---

"Freeze! You're under arrest!"

The order came a few moments after Noelle and Nero entered the settlement on the Grove they'd run onto, Grove 25 as they'd seen the number on one of the mangroves a few moments ago. While that normally wouldn't stop them, the line of armed marines that were formed across the street in front of them did.

Both girls did just that as they came to a stop annoyed that they were close to the tavern, only two Groves away, as they looked at the marines before them noting that they were just the standard enlisted ones. To add to it, the moment they did more came out of the nearby alleyways and surrounded them on both sides so there was no way to go but through one line of marines at least.

It was a full cohort at least and as expected they were armed with guns and swords as they leveled their weapons at the girls. Instinctively Nero turned to face the ones behind them and placed her back against Noelle's as they looked at their opponents, not an ounce of fear or defeat in either of their expressions.

"They're pirates, call for backup!" The officer in charge, they could identify him by his coat and the fact that he was behind the line of marines that was in front of Noelle, called out. "I recognize them, the Sea Princess and the Silent Swallow, their members of the Black Bull Pirates with bounties of 89 and 18 million berries respectively. Show them no mercy if they resist."

"Is there any source you can reach from here?" Nero asked softly as she assessed the situation they were in and quickly deduced that it wasn't bad though the added reassurance that Noelle could provide would help. "Surely there's plumbing at least."

"There is but the concentration and force required would take too long as I'd have to break pipes and then pull through the houses and they can fire by then." Noelle said just as softly. "Right now it's best to have a direct source and I only have that in my packs but that is why I carry them. It should still be enough though. Good thing most have guns, they're easier to deal with. I'll hit them; you do your thing."

"Agreed." Nero said.

"Well, stand down then." The officer said getting their attention. "Your surrounded and outnumbered, you've got no chance. Don't make us hurt you."

"That's what you think." Noelle said with a grin as she flicked her wrists and a pair of metal rods with ornate pommels that had tubes coming from their bases, what she called wands, shot out from where she kept them under her sleeves and into her hands, the tubes connecting them to the packs on her hips. "But we're not wanted for nothing and gunpowder doesn't work well when it's wet, does it."

With that Noelle activated her Devil Fruit power and mentally connected with the water in her packs and blasted it out of her wands as she moved them so that one was pointing at the officer in front of her and the other at the sky above them. The water that blasted at the officer passed between two marines' heads before it slammed into his chest, Noelle was glad that after all her training on the way to Sabaody that she could finally hit people with her attacks, and threw him back along the road until he slammed into a statue in a square at the end of it and went through it knocking him out.

At the same time she burst the water above them and formed it into a large disk overhead that instantly began to rain on them though Noelle erected a water barrier over herself as the ran fell down to her as a drawback to her power was that she was more susceptible to water than most Devil Fruit users. Still, the tradeoff to be fully connected to the water under her control and know where every drop was was worth it even if bathing was a chore for her.

In that vein, the moment that the officer was down, Noelle cut the water off from the tip of her right hand wand and parted it so that the water slammed into the marines that were staring in shock at what she was doing. As soon as they were hit Noelle pushed them to the sides and into the buildings that lined the street and hemmed the girls in between the two lines of marines.

The other line wasn't idle though and they managed to get a few gunshots but Noelle used the rest of the water in her right pack, the whole left pack had been used up with the rain pool, to form a dome around her and Nero to intercept the shots with it. Part of her power also allowed her to make the water under her command as compact as possible, which toughened it up to deal with bullets while still keeping it a liquid.

For her part Nero just waited patiently as the shots were fired, the bullets hitting the water and being slowed so much that they just tumbled to the ground once they fell through it, if they fell through at all, until it was time to act. That time came when the clicks began showing that Noelle had gotten the water into the mechanisms of them and the moment they did Nero rushed forward and out of the water dome and towards the marines that had been behind her.

"Guns aren't working!" One of the marines said looking down at his gun, call for backup we need special gear. "It's as if the water is moving inside the guns and making sure that they don't work."

"That's exactly what it's doing." Nero said as her hands glowed blue and she reached the first marine and touched his hands. "But that's not the threat right now, I am."

With that Nero passed the man and touched the one next to him before touching his back and getting to work. Without guns the marines turned to swords but Nero was already amongst them and all it too was for one touch to the body to impart her own power into them and they fell down not moving.

She still leapt up and around, her feet glowing as well showing that she'd kicked her shoes off along the way, and showed an impressive level of grace and athleticism as she flipped, spun and twisted away from the marines, occasionally using one as a stepping stone which had the added effect of imparting her power to them in the process as the marines tried to stop her. One did manage to get a call off, however, before Nero touched him though he kept it secret and made sure to take the hit to preserve that.

Regardless, the result was that every marine she touched moved for a few seconds before seizing up as they body stopped being able to move and they fell down to the ground in strange positions still clutching their weapons. They couldn't even talk; all they could do was breath and stare at the black haired girl with a small set of horns on her head as she almost danced through the artificial rain the silver haired girl was creating and took them all down with a single touch while only taking one lucky slash to her right bicep in the process, which also resulted in the lucky marine getting immediately touched and seizing up like the others.

Nero ignored the cut and blood that ran down her arm and mixed with the water as she worked through the soldiers until they were all down. Only then did she raise her left hand to the cut and sealed it shut healing herself though she'd need some ointment that she had back on the ship to prevent it from scaring.

Still it wasn't a bad bit of exercise and Nero turned and walked back over the wet grass to Noelle who was still in her protective dome. As Nero did, however, Noelle removed the water from the marines that she'd pinned to the walls so that they could gasp and splutter on the ground their useless guns on the ground and few still holding swords.

That was fine with Nero as she rushed forward the moment that Noelle let them down and set to work on them as well. Once they were all taken care of they could move on, when Nero went to sleep that night her power would end and they'd be free but by then they'd be long gone from this area so it would be fine.

"Thanks Nero." Noelle said as Nero went to work. "It may not seem like much but the power of the Seal-Seal Fruit can be quite scary when it's applied like that."

"My Prince showed me that it was more than I thought and that it was actually useful." Nero said as she worked. "I've only sealed their muscles and joints though, they can still breath so they'll live. Unlike some I don't kill needlessly."

"Good, we aren't murders." Noelle said. "Now hurry up so we can…"

"Fire incendiaries!" A cry came from behind them interrupting the girls just as Nero sealed the last person. "I don't know what that power it but the Sea Princess is controlling the water, boil it away!"

Before Noelle or Nero could react a backup cohort that had come to aid them from behind armed with mortars that proceeded to fire at the rain cloud and Noelle's barrier. The moment they hit they exploded in a massive wave of intense fire, likely a special charge designed to combat fish-men who used water attacks with their martial arts, and some of the water began to evaporate. Worse though was that the one that hit and blew apart Noelle's dome broke her concentration for a split second and caused the water to fall on her.

The moment the downpour hit her head and shoulders she fell to her knees with a groan as the sea water she was using briefly sapped her strength from contact. It was a double edged sword for her as her power worked best with sea water but it was also the worst for her to be in physical contact with.

Noelle may have a very strong and strange Devil Fruit but the higher than normal cost that it came with ensured that getting wet took it out of her for long enough that the rest of her water crashed down and onto the ground where it soaked into the roots of the mangroves that made up Sabaody Archipelago. She could control and manipulate water but not take it out of things so the moment it hit it was gone and she'd used up most of it.

Still, she remembered the words of their crew and pushed past her limits to grab whatever water was left and form it into a shield as thick as she could manage while on one knee and put it up between them despite feeling the effects of the water still in contact with her body. As she did Nero ripped off the shirt of a marine and rushed to Noelle's side to try and dry her as best she could.

"Thanks." Noelle said as she focused on the shield between them and the latest attacker while Nero helped her out. "Damn drawback."

"You wield a power that is classified as legendary amongst Devil Fruits because it's one that no one thought would exist." Nero said as a mortar ball slammed into the shield and exploded but it was thick enough to take it. "So of course the cost would be higher. You literally defy what it is to wield a Devil Fruit Noelle, I'd say the hatred of the sea is even greater for you."

"True." Noelle said as she began to rise now that she was somewhat dry. "But it's still annoying to deal with and having to have help bathing is just embarrassing."

"I understand though we don't mind helping you there but right now we need more water." Nero said. "Can you use the plumbing?"

"I can I just…" Noelle began before she suddenly sensed a strong presence of water just at the edge of her range and grinned as another mortar shell exploded on the water shield she had before them. "Never mind. There's a large amount of fresh water in the open and it's behind them. That will do perfectly."

With that Noelle reached out and grabbed the water with her mind and yanked it to her as fast as possible. This would get them out of the jam they were in and they could continue to the tavern with her water replaced. It was a saving grace and Noelle didn't even bother questioning why such a concentrated source of water was out in the open like that.

---

"Right we're in Grove 25." Lucy said as they hurried through the wilderness between settlements. "We still have a ways to go but we should be fine with all else going on to distract the marines. That…"

"Freeze pirate scum!"

"…and I spoke to soon." Lucy said with a sight as they rounded a big tree with the Grove number painted on it and came face to face with a group of marines that were in the area.

Neither girl could tell who gave the order, especially because the officer at the back was on a snail and instantly ordered a detachment, the ones with mortars, to head to the nearby town which they did, but they did come to a stop facing the armed men intent on arresting them. The fact that several marines were now pointing guns at them helped though Juvia just smirked at that.

"Get behind the tree Lucy." Juvia ordered. "I'll distract them while you decide which is best and then join the fight."

"Oh yeah they're not ready for this." Lucy said with a grin of her own as she twisted and dove behind the tree. "Give them hell Juvia."

"She's running, open fire!" One of the marines yelled. "That's Heartfilia Lucy, the Celestial Princess she's got a bounty of 91 million berries. The other is Rain Bringer Juvia, she's worth 97 million berries! We can't let them get away!"

At that the marines opened fire but Juvia, who was kinda annoyed that her bounty hadn't hit 100 million making her a Super Rookie before they reached the New World, leapt to the side to cover Lucy's retreat as the bullets flew her arms wide in a protective gesture. Not all hit but several did and punched holes in her as they passed through her body. Juvia just grinned the entire time as rather than blood, water burst from the impact points and she remained standing.

"Ceasefire!" The officer, who was clearly done with his call, called as he looked at the still standing but hole filled woman. "That should…"

"Really, you think that mere bullets would work on me?" Juvia asked as the holes began to vanish, water filling them and returning her to normal. "I ate the Logia type Wave-Wave Fruit and became a Water Woman."

"Wait what?" The officer asked his eyes wide at what Juvia said. "That's not possible, there can't be a Logia like that."

"Oh but there is, I'm proof of it." Juvia said as she raised her arms. "Now let's see if you can handle it."

With that her arms turned to water and she blasted them out at the marines before her. They scattered, some trying to loop around the tree to where Lucy was figuring that she might be an easier target, but not all managed it as Juvia washed them away in her initial attack before she turned her whole body to water and rushed forwards as the marines who still had working guns fired ineffectively at her.

Meanwhile, Lucy had taken cover behind the tree and as Juvia was ineffectively being shot and revealing her unreal Devil Fruit in the process, Lucy was using her own Devil Fruit. From the palm of her hand a gold key formed with a strange marking on the top of it. She then grabbed it and turned it on herself, slamming it point first into her chest where her heart was and turning it as if unlocking a lock which in some sense she was.

"Key-Key power, unlock the Dress of the Bull!" Lucy shouted as her clothes shifted and her power activated.

In moments Lucy's outfit changed so that she was only wearing a black and white cow print bra, matching sleeves that came up to her biceps, fingerless black gloves, brown bracers, and brown boots. Oddly she only had one black pant leg over her left leg though enough on the right to cover her ass. The outfit was completed with a white belt with a gold buckle that had the same crest on it as the top of the key and a choker with a cowbell on it. Her hairstyle also changed so that it was now in a pair of balls at the back with two strands framing her face. She even had a new whip that she held in her hands.

Lucy's Devil Fruit was the Key-Key Fruit, an odd, esoteric, and powerful Devil Fruit that the women of her family had tried to hand down over the years from mother to daughter so they'd always sought it out whenever it reentered circulation. When her mother had died, the one good thing her father did after that was make sure to use their family's vast fortune to find the Key-Key Fruit for Lucy and give it to her though after that he became cold and focused on money.

That had led Lucy to running away from home and ultimately joining the Fairy Tail Pirates thanks to a chance run in with Natsu in the West Blue. It had been with them that she'd truly grown the power of her Devil Fruit.

The Key-Key Fruit allowed the user to generate keys that corresponded with the constellations in the sky. That gave the user a vast number of keys to that could be generated but only a skilled user could create even one of the 12 Zodiac Keys, the most powerful ones as using them granted the wielder powers associated with that constellation. The lesser keys merely summoned constructs that could do things but the Zodiac Keys were different as they worked on the user and it was this aspect that made the Key-Key Fruit so desired and classified as a top tier Paramecia type Devil Fruit.

Over the centuries, the women that came before Lucy had unlocked many of the secrets of the Key-Key Fruit and handed them down from generation to generation so that the next wielder could use them. Lucy had found her mother's notes on them before leaving and by the time she met Natsu she'd unlocked 3 of the keys. Now, after a lot of trials as part of the Fairy Tail Pirates and with their aid in understanding her mother's notes, she had access to 9 of the Zodiac Keys which was unheard of in the notes that Lucy had.

There were of course costs associated with using her Devil Fruit because this much power wasn't without a price. One thing was that Lucy could only use two of her Zodiac Keys a day at most and using them drained stamina over time so she had a time limit with them, one that decreased the more she used the specific aspects of the Zodiac Keys. She was also really weak to water when using one of the keys and naturally getting fully soaked could end her transformation, same should she come in contact with sea prism stone.

Still, it was a strong power to have and Lucy had gone for simple raw power this time as she turned around the tree to find a group of 5 marines trying to get around it to her only to see her changed outfit. Lucy just grinned at that as she leapt at them.

"Lucy Kick!" Lucy roared as she stuck her leg out and kicked the lead marine in the chest blasting him back and into the man behind him and sending them flying away and into a nearby tree as Lucy landed and turned to the next marine. "Lucy Gut Punch!"

This time she slammed her right fist into the marine's gut causing him to double over and fall to the ground foaming at the mouth from the force of the blow. The other two were ready though and one fired a shot that hit Lucy in the back of her right shoulder and staggered her but all it left was a small mark on her skin and got Lucy to turn around and lash her whip with her. It slammed into the startled marine's chest cutting through his uniform and bloodying his chest before it sent him flying backwards as the last one drew his sword and charge bring it down in an overhand strike that Lucy caught in her right hand.

"Lucy Headbutt!" Lucy shouted as she cocked her head and slammed it int his face breaking the man's nose and sending him crashing back to the ground in an unconscious heap as she held his sword.

Lucy just tossed it way as she turned to see several more coming towards her while a roiling mass of water handle the rest and the officer backed up shouting for backup but he'd just sent it away to deal with a request from the marines in the nearby settlement so it wasn't coming. Lucy just transferred her whip to her right hand and began lashing it out and onto the ground, her raw strength churning it up and sending marines flying from the shockwaves the force of Lucy's blows was generating.

That was the power of her Taurus Dress as she called it, enhanced strength and durability. It didn't mean that she couldn't be harmed, she had a bruise from the impact on her shoulder and her hand stung a bit from catching the sword though all she had as a small cut on her palm, but it made her a lot tougher and she used that now as she rushed forward and at the few marines who'd managed to remain upright after her attack and charged into them with the force of, well, a charging bull.

They were sent flying as Lucy ran into them and she used that to close the distance to the officer who was the only one left standing as the final ones facing Juvia were tossed into a tree and slid down out cold from the impact. Juvia too was going for the officer but Lucy beat her to him as he drew his sword to try and fight her.

"Lucy Gut Punch!" Lucy roared and delivered a second gut punch only this one caused the officer to drop his sword before sending him flying back in an arc that took him all the way to the edge of the town behind him where he crashed into and through the upper floor of a house.

"Lucy Gut Punch?" Juvia asked as she reformed next to Lucy. "Seriously? Your naming system is strange, you know that right."

"What it works." Lucy said simply opting to keep her Tauros Dress on just in case she needed it. "And it's easy to remember."

"True, but still it's…huh?" Juvia began before she got confused as she felt something invisible grab her. "What's…"

Juvia's was suddenly cut off before she could process what was happened by a yanking sensation on her and she was forcibly turned into water again and hauled away at high speed with a yelp. All Lucy could do was go wide eyed as Juvia wailed and was dragged away now just a cloud of water.

"Juvia!" Lucy called out. "Hold on I'm coming!"

Lucy had no idea what the hell was happening as it made no sense but she knew that she had to help Juvia. As such she rushed off after her friend to help her out, not bothering to change her outfit as she did.

---

"This will do it." Noelle said as she pulled back the water shield and saw the roiling ball of water, at least 100 pounds of it and very blue and solid for some reason, that she'd grabbed coming right at the backs of the marines as they reloaded the mortar. "Nero, get ready."

"On it." Nero said as she too looked at the water. "This will free us up for sure."

Noelle nodded as she sped up the water, it was oddly hard to manipulate, harder than any water she'd controlled before, but she could move the mass in general, and so she slammed I into the backs of the marines and sending the entire group flying towards them with a yell. The main benefit though was that the mortar emplacement was destroyed by how solid the water was and the marines distracted as Noelle sent out the shield of water that she'd been using as well. That she broke up so that she could hit the guns as for some reason the water she'd found was adverse to being broken apart.

Regardless, this was all that Nero needed as she rushed forward and began to seal the marines as they hit the ground, her own sealing in her feet allowing her to make sharp cuts that sped the process up as they needed to get this over as fast as possible. As such it only took a few moments before all the remaining marines to be sealed and no longer a threat to them.

"Good now that that's done let's go." Noelle said as she began to move the water to her and grit her teeth. "Come on already, I need to replenish my stock, why the hell is this fighting me? I get that this is fresh water which is a little harder to control but it's never been this hard."

"Might be best to drop it." Nero said as the water seemed to actively struggle against Noelle's hold, which confused her as much as it did Noelle as while Noelle had had struggles learning to control her Devil Fruit's power she'd long overcome that. "We should be clear now and worst case we just break into a house and use a tap there."

"True, annoying though." Noelle said as she dropped the water. "That should…"

Noelle didn't get to finish as the mass of water hit the ground and didn't soak into it. Instead it bounced up and formed on its own into the shape of a woman a little taller, and more curvaceous, than Noelle so significantly more than the petit Nero though Nero didn't have any insecurities about her body the way some girls like her might have. That and what was happening made no sense.

"Noelle, what are you doing?" Nero asked her eyes wide.

"Nothing." Noelle said her own eyes just as wide as Nero's. "Th, that's not me."

"If you're not controlling the water then…" Nero began as the water fully solidified and turned into a pale skinned woman around their own age with bright blue hair and wearing a blue dress thing with a slit up her left leg to the hip who was now glaring at them. "Oh…"

"You were a person?" Noelle asked her eyes bugging out now. "Made of water?

"Yes so why do you think you can use me as a battering ram?" The girl asked as she stared at the silver haired girl in a white and pink outfit under a black robe with gold edging and a gold bull's skull over crossed katanas on it before she blinked at what she was saying. "Wait if you could do that then that means that you can mentally control water because my body is water."

"Yes I can." Noelle said before it hit. "Wait so then what…"

"You can mentally control water." Juvia repeated at the same time her own eyes wide as it all sunk in. "Which begs the question…"

"What kind of freaky legendary Devil Fruit did you eat!" Both girls said in unison staring in shock at each other just as Lucy caught up to them, not even slightly tired.

"Juvia, what happened?" Lucy asked as she reached them and saw the scene and robes that Nero and Noelle wore while Nero noted the pink tattoo on the girl's hand as the jolly roger of the Fairy Tail Pirates and presumed that the other girl, Juvia as the blond called her, was a member of that crew as well. "And why are two Black Bull Pirates here?"

"We can say the same for the Fairy Tail Pirate." Nero said looking at them and matching their faces to their wanted posters that she'd studied back when Fairy Tail had taken down a Warlord while Noelle and Juvia continued to stare at each other both equally surprised by what the other could do. "My guess is that you're Heartfilia Lucy though you look different to your wanted poster in terms of your hair and outfit while the other girl is Lockser Juvia though we had no clue she had a Devil Fruit, especially not one like that."

"Huh, you're well informed but we know who you two are as well, we make it a point to know the other big crews thanks to one of our members and your Captain is as destructive as ours so made it a point to learn about the Black Bulls." Lucy said quickly recognizing them. "You're Nero, aka Silent Swallow, and the other girl is the Sea Princess Noelle."

"You're well informed, good." Nero said. "Now if those two would just say their fruit names so we understand what the other can do we can get this over with and hurry up."

"Right fine." Noelle said with a huff as she recovered and flicked her pigtail that she always did when trying to show indifference. "To answer your question, I ate the Sea-Sea Fruit and became a Hydromancer. It allows me to mentally control any water within a certain area of my body though naturally there are volume restrictions to it."

"Ah that explains it as I ate the Wave-Wave Fruit and my body became water." Juvia said. "As you can tell that is the Water Logia so it does exist, not that I realized it back when I ate it. I can turn into and generate water that I can control just like any other Logia type but only if I create it. It does mean that I can neutralize other Devil Fruit users if I grab them with my power. Of course, I may be a Water Woman now but I still can't swim and if I fall into water I can't use my power and will drown. Rather annoying."

"I get that, it's frustrating when you can control water but can't actually swim." Noelle said. "So that explains what just happened."

"Clearly you also have a Devil Fruit but right now is not the time to discuss it." Nero said glancing at Lucy as there was no way that she'd be fine after running from the edge of Noelle's water control range without a Devil Fruit power backing her up. "Now that this issue is out of the way we need to get moving. I presume that that power of yours increases strength and speed."

"Strength and durability but increased strength does inadvertently increase my speed." Lucy said with a nod. "Why?"

"Because I have an offer for you two." Nero said. "You both can move faster than us, a Logia type and a Devil Fruit that provides physical enhancements are quicker than what we can do, but we're closer to our base where we can instantly get back to our ship. Take us to the tavern we're staying at in Grove 27 and we'll get you to the safety of our ship once we regroup with one of our crewmates who is there. Along the way we'll let you use our snail to call your Captain or whoever's responsible on your crew to arrange a pickup from our ship."

"How far out are we from the ship?" Juvia asked fully over her shock but she had some questions especially with how Noelle had gotten her hands on a legendary Paramecia, a similar question that Noelle had for Juvia regarding her legendary Logia, so this could work for them. "Would this be better for us getting off the archipelago then just dropping them off and carrying on ourselves?"

"A fair bit." Lucy admitted. "There's a reason Happy wasn't coming back for us. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel can all reach it fast but if it's a choice between two Groves and then instant safety and going to the ship then this is better. Plus we'd have to pass through Grove 27 anyway."

"If that's the case then you're going to want to take this offer." Noelle said. "We have reports that Admiral Kizaru is there as well which could complicate thing. I trust he'll be occupied and even he can't follow us without knowing precisely where our ship is but still, if we can get there fast then we can all get off this archipelago right away."

Lucy and Juvia looked at each other before they nodded and turned back to the other girls. It really wasn't a hard choice in the end and while they may owe the Black Bulls a favor a good relationship with another strong rookie crew couldn't hurt in the long run.

"We're in." Lucy said. "How do you want to do this?"

"Carry Noelle." Nero said to Lucy. "We may need her power and it's safer if you do so than Juvia. I'll ride on Juvia's back."

"Makes sense." Lucy said.

"Agreed." Juvia said turning her back to Nero. "Hop on."

Nero nodded at that and quickly clambered onto Juvia's back; her weight easily light enough for Juvia to carry, and settled herself there though she didn't use her powers to seal herself to Juvia. At the same time Lucy hurried forward and picked Noelle up in a princess carry much to Noelle's annoyance though thankfully Asta had already held her like this before so this wasn't a first for her, not that she'd ever tell Asta how much she'd enjoyed it when he'd held her like this.

"Which way?" Juvia asked.

"That way." Nero said pointing.

"Got it, hold on tight." Juvia said as she leapt up and forward, her lower half turning to vortex of water as she shot off in the direction that Nero had pointed in with Lucy running as fast as she could after her while carrying Noelle.

The four girls sped along as fast as they could ready to get off the damned archipelago. As they moved all couldn't help but worry about their crewmates and Captains and hoped that they were ok in what they were doing.

I think that's a good place to leave this chapter off, the big battles (Kizaru and the Pacifistas) have either started or will start soon so they're going to be saved for the next chapter which will pick up with the one going on right now and then shift to the final crew that hasn't been seen yet in the chaos but don't worry they've got their own fun still to come. I know it's a bit of a sudden end with the chaos going on but once again these chapters were getting a bit long so I have broken it up into two parts, the general setup and minor skirmishes which is this chapter and the major confrontations which is the next chapter. There is just too much going on that trying to do it all in one chapter would be too convoluted and long for something that isn't a singular event like a tournament hence why I've broken it up into two chapters, well technically three as everything from the front of the start of last chapter to the end of the next one was supposed to be one single chapter but as you can tell that would have easily been over 25k words and taken ages to come out so instead you get three chapters covering the chaos on Sabaody in the wake of Luffy's punch and a slightly more frequent upload schedule as a result. As always I can't give an exact promise of when the next chapter will come out but I am hoping to complete this three part tale before the end of the year, if all goes well with my other stories. Other than that, this was a hectic and busy chapter with a lot of action and we get to see several more of the new Devil Fruits, including the reveal of the two legendary/fabled ones with Noelle and Juvia and answer the questions as to their powers. There is still a lot more though and a few of the new Supernovas' fruits to reveal but that is to come so stay tuned for it. That is all that I have for y'all, I'm sure y'all know what is next as we continue the chaos on Sabaody, but for now I'll leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and if there are any questions will posed in reviews and PMs I will try to answer them as best I can. Until next time.

Stringdog